CS33100 Advanced Operating Systems - Fall 2002

David Beazley
Ry257B
702-9111
beazley@cs.uchicago.edu

Overview

The primary goal of this course is to present advanced topics in operating systems and systems-related research. However, rather than attempting to cover every conceivable topic that might fall under the heading of "advanced systems", the class focuses on some particular aspect of systems research and goes into extensive depth on related topics.

This year, the class will primarily focus on operating system and programming language support for multiprocessing and concurrency. Topics include, but are not limited to symmetric multiprocessing, threads, virtual machines, and software components. Additional topics will be covered according to student interest.

Prerequisites

This is an advanced graduate level course intended for Ph.D. students in computer science. CS23000/33000 Operating Systems or equivalent is a strict prerequisite for all students. In addition, I assume that you are fully proficient in C/C++ and the Unix programming environment. Undergraduates who have successfully completed the kernel project from CS23000 are welcome to take the course with the permission of their academic advisor.

Textbook

There is no textbook for this class. Reading will primarily consist of research papers and book excerpts as appropriate. A good Unix programming resource such as W. Richard Stevens "Unix Network Programming" or "Advanced Unix Programming" may be useful if you don't already have a copy.

Projects and grading

This is a research course in which your grade will be determined by the completion of three class projects. These projects are challenging and may require a significant amount of programming, experimentation, and meditation (i.e., "head banging"). From time to time, papers and short homework "assignments" will be handed out. These assignments are not collected or graded, but they will often relate to the current project or an upcoming class discussion. Therefore, I expect you to do these assignments and to be ready to discuss the results in class. This will count towards the participation part of your grade.

And a few final comments

As this is a research course, I want to encourage you to interact with other students and myself. The goal of this course is to look at some interesting topics and to really try and figure them out--not to make your life miserable (well, at least not too miserable :-).